1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telephone apparatus having a calling card support function, and also relates to a handsfree apparatus for a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
There is known a telephone apparatus having a calling card support function, which enables a telephone call using card information on a calling card (see JP-H5-22477A, JP-H11-239232A corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,156, and JP-H5-122408A)
According to such telephone apparatus, a user can input card information (e.g., access number and PIN code) appearing on a front surface of a calling card to the telephone apparatus, so that the card information is stored in the telephone apparatus. Then, a user can directly input a telephone number of a call destination or select the telephone number of the call destination by referencing phone book date, and then the telephone apparatus transmits the access number as a dialed telephone number to a center (i.e., a center that provides telephone service using card information on a calling card) and transmits the PIN code to the center. Provided that authentication of the PIN code is successful, the telephone apparatus and the call destination are connected to each other via a telephone communication link, and the telephone communication becomes possible.
The inventors of the present application have found that conventional techniques involve the following difficulty. To enable the telephone communication using card information on a calling card, the card information should be stored in the telephone apparatus in advance. A method for a user to record card information in the telephone apparatus is user direct operation of the telephone apparatus. When an environment for user operation of the telephone apparatus is constrained by, for example, location, structure or the like of the telephone apparatus, a stranger can watch user operation of inputting card information, and as a result, the stranger can discover the card information. Security cannot be assured. It should be noted that the above-described patent documents fail to teach and suggest measures against this difficulty.